Roger Waters @ First Niagara Center, Buffalo, New York
Thursday, June 21, 2012

By: Thom Jennings

In the late 1970s Roger Waters approached his Pink Floyd band mates with two ideas
for concept albums. One of them grew from an experience at a concert where fans
heckled Waters at a concert and he spat on them. The imaginary wall Waters perceived
was a barrier between him and the fans, and grew out of his disillusionment with the
rock star lifestyle.

In spite of the dark overtones, it is clear that Roger Waters has embraced the
concert stage and fallen in love with his audience. Before performing “Mother,” as a
duet of sorts, with a video version of himself from a 1980 Pink Floyd performance,
he noted that the 1980 Waters was not a nice person. At the end of the Buffalo
performance Waters beamed with pride and said, “When I wrote this thing over 31
years ago I hated being in front of nice people like you, now I fucking love it!”
That in many ways sums up the performance. If one looks past the huge wall and
unparalleled production, there sits a performer who has reached his peak at a time
when many rock musicians are relegated to stiff performances of their past hits at
casinos.

Waters newfound enjoyment of live performance has thus changed the emphasis of “The
Wall.” The message isn’t about rock star excess, it is about governmental excess,
abuse of power and imperialism. Ultimately it is Water’s expression the profound
impact that his father’s death in combat had on him.

In between sets, while many fans scooted off to the restroom or to hunt down some
food and drink, pictures and small bios of servicemen and women were projected on
the huge wall constructed during the first set. The soldiers were not from one
particular war or one era, the only commonality they had is that their death still
had an impact on someone who is still alive. One of those panels had the name Eric
Fletcher Waters, Roger’s father. It didn’t have special recognition; it was Roger’s
way of showing solidarity to those who have lost loved ones in a military conflict.
Amazingly, through the crystal clear sound, striking imagery and tremendous
musicianship, that message was not lost, and certainly remains as relevant today as
it was when the album first appeared. The difference between today’s geopolitical
climate and what it was in 1980 is that an anti-war message would not have resonated
with the audience then, because it was a time of relative peace, at least in this
part of the world.

One thing this show proves is that “The Wall” was Roger Water’ finest hour as a
composer, and even though it appeared under the Pink Floyd moniker it really was a
Roger Waters album, so much so that it led to the dissolution of the quintessential
Floyd lineup.

Thirty one years later it has provided the perfect vehicle for Waters to come to
terms with the real source of his alienation. It wasn’t the audience at a rock
concert, it was the people that make war and that ultimately took a little boy’s
father from him. With that Waters is no longer the stereotypical snooty rock star;
he is a star performer and a purveyor of a powerful anti-war message; a message that
will likely outlive all of us.